Throughout the weekend at Michigan International Speedway, several Sprint Cup drivers who had made the move to the top NASCAR level at a young age were asked about the adjustment.

Those questions pertained to the possibility that Earnhardt Ganassi Racing could move 21-year-old Kyle Larson into the No. 42 car starting next season. Juan Pablo Montoya won’t return to the team, and Larson is considered one of the top young talents in the sport. But many fear that moving him to Cup too soon could curb his development and ruin a bright future.

Only in his second full season of stock-car racing, Larson sits ninth in the Nationwide standings while driving for Turner Scott Motorsports.

Larson, who has a development contract with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, has been lauded by Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon and others for his racing ability, which has produced several major sprint-car victories as well as a NASCAR truck win at Rockingham.

The typically mild-mannered Larson just went about his business of racing the Nationwide car last week at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course oblivious of all the talk about him at Michigan, but obviously knowing his name is circulating heavily in the rumor mill.

“I didn’t know that people had been asking the Cup guys if they thought I was ready or not yet,” Larson said in a phone interview Monday. “I thought it was really cool that a lot of people thought that I was speculated about going in the 42.

“I think that says I’m doing OK. I don’t know if it will happen or not, but I’m not really worried about whether people think I’m ready or not.”

With several sprint-car races on his schedule this summer and the full slate of Nationwide races, Larson said he hasn’t had much time to think about his future. He believes he could handle Cup as far as racing but would have to get used to a schedule filled with longer events and several more sponsor and media commitments.

“The races are longer so I might have to think about working out,” Larson said. “I think I would handle it pretty well. I think I would get used to it. I think I would race OK.”

Larson believes he could handle the mental stress that could come with being a rookie at the major level. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who won back-to-back Nationwide titles, does not have a top10 finish as a Cup rookie this year and is 21st in the standings.

In Nationwide, Larson has five top-fives and 12 top-10s in 22 races this year.

“When I finish in the top 10 or eight or whatever, I’m really happy with that,” Larson said. “The few top-fives that I’ve had, they feel like wins almost. The couple of second places are really good, too. I’ve been pretty happy with how the season has gone.

“I have not been disappointed at all by not winning. … I feel like we’ve been competitive all year. I’m happy with that.”

The biggest challenge for Larson is taking care of his equipment.

“In the beginning of the year, I beat my fender in the first quarter of the race and be chasing it the rest of the time,” Larson said. “Now when stuff is not going right at the beginning of the race I stay patient and work on the car and get it better and end up with a lot better finish.”

That patience paid off at Mid-Ohio, where Larson was nudged on the opening lap by teammate Nelson Piquet Jr.

Larson’s team fixed the car, but he was three laps down. Larson got two laps back under caution and then stayed out and got the wave-around one time to return to the lead lap.

He was in fourth going into the final lap when he was roughed up by Max Papis. After the race, Larson spun Papis. Papis said afterward that Larson nudged him out of the way, and he just returned the favor in typical road-racing last-lap fashion.

“He said I got into him on the last corner coming to the white (flag),” Larson said. “I did. I barely touched him. He just overreacted and felt that he should ruin my race. … I definitely don’t feel bad about spinning him out after the race. He ruined my race.”

Larson believed the contact with Piquet was accidental, and just his frustration of having a great comeback ruined by Papis sent him over the edge.

Could that be a sign that Larson will crack under the pressure in Cup? Larson, who spun another driver on the final lap to win a NASCAR regional series race in February, doesn’t think so, saying it was just a byproduct of the tough racing in the series.

“It’s not all Kyle Larson in the spotlight—it is on every driver in the field,” Larson said. “I don’t think I did anything wrong at Mid-Ohio.

“At the beginning of the year, it probably wasn’t right what I did. … (On Saturday), I just got kinda of fed up with it and felt Max was a good guy to take it out on.”